Hacking is the only HOPE
Two very impactful things have happened to me this year. In this post I am going to talk about the second one of those things.
I think one of the most liberating experiences one can have as a human is being surrounded by those who share similar interests and beliefs as your own. And while that might feel like an obvious statement, I feel like right now the internet has fragmented humanity into an oblivion. Despite being as connected as ever, the algorithms feed on our anger. And because the algorithms see our engagement in the extremes, it feeds us more of the same, and creators make content that is more and more polarizing. Hank Green talked about this concept, called "audience capture" in a recent video.
So much of our lives are being dictated by these algorithms, and I believe that most people don't even realize it. In a crowded restaurant a few days ago, I was seated very closely next to two older women, and one was showing the other news she saw on Facebook, handing her phone over to the other woman. With the proliferation of AI chatbots that aim to keep you on their chat sessions longer and longer, it's getting worse. I think you have seen enough headlines of the horrors of AI chatbots, I don't think it's necessary to recount them here. Despite spending over a decade working in television, I think Neil Postman made some very valid points about the rise of TV.
If algorithms are the poison, community is the antidote. Community is something I have been trying to cultivate in my own life since I moved back to Albuquerque in 2018 from a lonely couple of years in the PNW. I think I accomplished a version of that starting a free fridge and working in mutual aid for four years, but that was during covid, which of course added complications.
This week I returned from attending Hackers on Planet Earth, a conference that brings together people in the hacking community. This was only my second year, but the joy of spending three days in rooms of likeminded individuals where it feels like most people get me is an absolutely liberating experience.
There are misconceptions about what is hacking; I imagine my colleagues assuming I am dressed like Trinity in the Matrix talking into an earpiece and jumping into a phone. Upon telling my mom my plans she said "Don't they know that's illegal?"
I don't want to call myself an expert by any means in regards to what is and is not hacking, but I imagine the definition as a general questioning of the status quo, asking why, and not accepting the world as it is. I think hackers are brave- they are never afraid to question the reality that is given to them. Most importantly, hackers question and change systems.
The system is broken. It is hard to not feel stuck within the walled gardens that have been built for us.
Did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees? Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change? Did you exchange
A walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
I am here to tell you that we are not stuck. I am here to tell you that you can say fuck all the fucking billionaires that are sucking our lives away from our phones. I am not saying that we need to reject technology- I am saying that we need to take back control of the technology. We can remove ourselves from the systems we have been given.
I challenge you to think of one piece of the billionaire run internet that you feel trapped by, and stop engaging in it. Switch from Instagram to Pixelfed, or another Fediverse application. Delete apps from your phone. Turn off your phone for a whole Sunday. Throw your phone into a storm drain and never look back (just kidding...). Switch from Gmail (which reads all your emails to feed you ads) to another email service provider like Proton Mail of Fastmail. Start removing yourself from data brokers.
Please continue to follow along as I do the same. I have began the process of setting up my own self-hosted document server (goodbye Google docs), and I am beginning the steps of transitioning from Android to GrapheneOS. I am glad that you are here, fellow hacker.
-Veve
